


Don't use the Z-word

by Sephypsycologist



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, undertum - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-21
Updated: 2018-12-21
Packaged: 2019-09-23 23:09:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,024
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17089484
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sephypsycologist/pseuds/Sephypsycologist
Summary: So it's kind of rude to call people zombies? They prefer monsters, and they're not here to eat your brains. Usually.





	Don't use the Z-word

“hey, uh…buddy?” Sans tugs at his partner’s sleeve. Every zombie had a partner, some human who would keep them safe and sane. And the word ‘zombie’ stopped being used, too. They were just monsters now, as they should be since not all of them were ‘dead’ technically.

“Yeah, Sans?” they’d been there playing Smash Brothers today. Just because they were assigned to watch over Sans didn’t mean they weren’t still his friend.

“uh….y’know how i only have 1 hp, right?” the mostly bones monster blushed a light blue with the magic that let him stay together.

The human pauses the game and nods, setting down their controller.

“well…it’s kinda caught up with me. my legs are kinda shaky and i haven’t…um….eaten? in a day or two?” Sans’ stomach growls loudly and his eye lights go out for a moment before returning slowly as he starts panting.

Startled, the human gets up, “Hang on, Sans, I gotcha. Be right back.” They run out and close the door behind them.

Hopefully they’d come back with food. And be safe; Sans didn’t want his partner to be an example of what happened if a human got bitten by something with the zombie magic. Sometimes they just turned into a monster. Sometimes they turned into an ‘amalgamate’, a goopy mass of flesh and magic that could bond together into half aware, jumbled beings.

But his human was trained to avoid the non-sentient shambling piles, and the more unstable members of the monster population. They’d be fine. He hoped.

–

Sans was their best friend, so his human delivered! They came back with lots of bags of food from various restaurants around town (no matter how disappointed Papyrus would be in them when he came home tomorrow and found these in the trash).

The skeleton was in full hunger mode when they saw him, eyes out and mouth open and drooling. So, they opened one of the boxes of chicken nuggets and did their best three point shot into his mouth with it.

Sans instantly snapped his jaw shut and chewed it quickly, swallowing loudly before shaking himself back to consciousness, “ugh….hate when that happens. you okay, bud?”

“Never better!” the human chuckled and handed him the box of nuggets. Now that he was at himself, Sans could feed himself, too. 

Setting the take out on the center cushion of the couch, the human grinned, “Ready for round three?” They had their controller in hand.

“prepare to get dunked on, my friend,” Sans chuckled, quickly stuffing a few nuggets into his mouth before unpausing the game to continue the smackdown.

The two of them always had great tournaments, but it did mean they got very focused on the game and not their surroundings. And so, Sans didn’t remember to watch how much he was eating. His body didn’t function like a humans in that there was no ‘yo you’re full now’ signal. Nobody knew why but it was just how things worked. For your average monster it wasn’t a problem, really. They ate while aware and could gauge a proper portion easily. But if you were in a hunger frenzy or distracted, as Sans was….well, there were consequences.

These consequences showed up when the human got up to stretch after playing so long. “Mmng, well, that was fun. What now? Oh….” They glanced over at Sans and looked surprised.

“what?” he asked, confused.

“Dude, you overdid it again,” his human made a gesture, and then Sans felt the first cramps squeezing at his stomach.

“stars, i did,” the skeleton groaned softly, easing himself to lay back against the arm of the sofa, kicking all the empty boxes next to him away. There was a very round sack of swirling, gurgling magic stuck between his ribs and pelvis now, and it hurt to even breathe (though why he had to was a mystery to everyone). “how’d i not *hic* notice till now? ooooofff, yeah not good.”

“It was the game, man,” his apologetic partner sighed, sitting back on the edge of the couch to survey the scene better, “I completely forgot you needed a supervisor on portions. My bad, man. I was just worried when you said how long you were without and….ehe….I got way too much for one sitting.”

“mmmng, well, won’t have to worry for a long while now,” Sans mumbled, holding back a moan of discomfort as another pain shot across his innards.

Worried, the human gave a sheepish smile, “Want me to help a little? I know how much you guys like warmth, and my hands are always toasty.”

Sans turned his gaze on them, brow bones furrowed but eye lights dim and pleading. “yes. please.”

“Okie dokie, then,” they carefully rested their hands on the tight curve under his shirt. “Shoot, man, I can feel it bubbling under my hands.”

“uh huh….mmn…” Sans closed his sockets and tried to concentrate on that soothing warmth coming from their hands. He hiccuped and winced as those hands began to move slowly in circles, simultaneously stirring the magic into further action and calming it down.

The human sighed and kept it up, “I hope this works; works on me usually anyway.”

Sans didn’t reply. It hurt to talk, or breathe, or move, but….that was easing away into a fuzzy, heavy feeling. And after a moment or two he didn’t even care. His natural lazy nature and ability to sleep anywhere kicked in as soon as the pain lowered to a tolerable level and he was out like a light.

His human friend just chuckled to themselves, glad their partner was doing better and sleeping this off. They looked for a moment at their hands, still rubbing very softly over the warm, noisy surface below, enjoying the glowing blue of the magic and smirking at the low grumbles still coming on occasion. But they decided they’d done enough for one day and backed off.

“Night, Sans. I’ll make sure you don’t get disturbed,” they whispered, then quietly turned the TV to a random channel with the sound down low.


End file.
